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Santa Fund gift boxes a small reminder for newcomers that they aren’t alone

More than 100 boxes will reach low-income children and families through Adventure Place, an agency that partners with the Toronto Star.

Mother Vernalyn Rogacion and her 16-month old daughter Avigail Belda will be getting their first Santa Claus Fund box this year, and say it will help make their Christmas a little easier. (Noor Javed / Toronto Star)

Avigail Belda hides her head in her mother’s shoulder, when mom Vernalyn Rogacion encourages her to say hello.

The 16-month-old is a little shy around strangers, but quickly warms up to Irena Kostenberg, a family home visitor with the North York based multi-service agency Adventure Place, who has been visiting the family at their home for the past year.

Through the agency’s Better Beginnings Now program, Kostenberg has been able to help Rogacion in her new life as a mother, and as a newcomer to Canada.

It’s been difficult two years, Rogacion admits. She joined her husband, leaving her family behind in the Philippines, and to her surprise, got pregnant right away. The last two years have been a combination of finding affordable housing, and temporary work — while dealing with a baby.

“I didn’t expect I would get pregnant right away,” she said. “It’s been difficult because I don’t have family to help me look after her,” said Rogacion. “And it’s been a hard, because my husband doesn’t have a job right now. He works construction, but now because winter is coming, there isn’t any work,” she said.

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She was connected to Kostenberg through a Toronto Public Health nurse. Kostenberg said her role is to support the new mom through weekly visits, “We help the mom in whatever she needs, if it’s the development of the child, or their diet, or other concerns,” she said, through visits which can go up to a year.

“We try to connect mom with other programs and people, so that she can get out of (her) isolation, and connect with others,” she said.

That’s why she was happy, this year, to give Rogacion the news that she would be getting a gift box through the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund this Christmas. “It makes a huge difference for these families,” said Kostenberg.

The fund sends gift boxes of clothing, books and toys to children in need over the holidays. And this year, Adventure Place has signed up 70 low-income families. One hundred and thirty children will receive the boxes this year, said Halima Mubaligh, a program supervisor.

“Many of our families don’t have money to buy presents, and it’s something that they can put under a tree. It helps a lot,” said Kostenberg. “Even if they save $10 or $15, that is a huge amount of money from some families,” she said. “Having a box means putting a smile on their child’s face,”

Kostenberg said she called one family recently to let them know they would be getting boxes for Christmas, and they were extremely happy, she said.

And that once the boxes arrive, the family’s are excited to show them to her during the home visits, she said, “There is always a great response to the gifts,” she said, said she’s been making the calls about the boxes for the past decade.

Adventure Place, which began out of a single classroom in 1972 to assist special needs children, is now a multi-service agency that works with thousands of children and families in North York each year.

In addition to the home visiting program, which serves around 100 families, the centre offers family support, autism classes for children, mental health programs, and classes for children who have “significant social, emotional and behavioural challenges.”

“A lot of the families we are involved with are either newcomers to Canada, or single mothers who are struggling financially,” said Mubaligh. “And our goal is to empower families and help reduce isolation,” she said.

And at the end of the day, the box is just another reminder for many newcomers that they aren’t alone, she said.

“I am very excited, because Christmas is coming,” said Rogacion, who says her family is Catholic. “And we will have something to give my daughter.”

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